Wingnuttery And The School Speech

Posted on 09/07/2009 at 4:46 pm by Bob Cesca

A particularly frank moment with Brokaw and Friedman on Meet the Press:

The school districts are treating this speech tomorrow as if it were the airing of a movie featuring nudity or profanity. And of course it’s due to wingnut pressure that they’re doing this. The districts are “reviewing” the speech for content in the same way they’d pick out a nipple slip or the use of the s-word in a documentary.

That’s how silly this is. And it’s strictly because the president is black and liberal and the Republicans are crapping their cages about it, thanks in part to the careerism of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.

By the way, aren’t we still at war?

“The only ideas that they espouse are ways to undermine the troops in harm’s way and undermine their commander in chief while they’re at war. Your candidates have no idea how to keep this economy strong.”
—Sean Hannity, 10/18/06

“He’s the Commander-in-Chief. And what I find frankly repugnant about you and some of your fellow Democrats – you have undermined our president…”

—Sean Hannity, 03/19/06

“You know, Norman, those comments while we are at war, while troops are in harm’s way, while he is the commander in chief, do you not see the outrage in that?”

—Sean Hannity, 11/12/07

“I have had it with members of your party undermining our troops, undermining a commander in chief while we are at war…”

—Sean Hannity, 11/05

“You don’t criticize the Commander-in-Chief in the middle of a firefight. That could be construed as putting U.S. forces in jeopardy and undermining morale.”

—Bill O’Reilly, 04/04

“Can we do it without distorting their legacies and pandering to anti-American elites worldwide and using their deaths to embarrass and undermine our commander in chief?”

—Michelle Malkin, 11/23/05

“On the other hand, if Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat Congress are successful in undermining the commander-in-chief (thereby emboldening the terrorists to kill more Americans in Iraq)…”

—Tom DeLay, 04/11/07

“And furthermore, one of the fundamental principles we have in America is that the president is the commander in chief of the armed forces and attempts to undermine the commander in chief during time of war amounts to treason.”

—Pat Robertson, 12/07/05

(Note: I mention these quotes to underscore the Republican hypocrisy. I don’t suddenly concur with their views just because a Democrat is president.)

Adding… Not to turn this into a “we’re better than them” thing, but I’m known as a very liberal, very outspoken blogger who spent much of this decade writing critical things about George W. Bush. But I always urged my daughter to refer to Bush as “President Bush” or “the president.” In my household, we respect the office even if we don’t respect the man or woman holding it — be it the office of the presidency or the office of school principal.

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  • rrebelo

    I just read the Presidents speech and I am very disappointed he decided not to talk about the proletarian’s struggle against the Bourgeoisie to control the means of Production and how the children would eventually be a part of that struggle. Als…o I am very angry that Leni Riefenstahl is no longer with us to shoot it. …Seriously People what did you think he was going to say. Also those of you against it probably have no Idea what I just wrote.

  • http://www.osborneink.com Matt Osborne

    Bob, your last paragraph speaks my own mind. I enforced respect for the office of president on my child even through the worst years of Bush. Now that a black man is president, suddenly it’s not the same anymore? That’s just pure, unadulterated racism. The “socialist” nonsense is just a convenient excuse.

  • jeanette

    Obama a liberal? Sorry, but in any civilized country he’d be considered a moderate conservative.

  • http://nanotyrnns.blogspot.com/ Nanotyrannus

    Bear in mind that the O’Reillys, the Hannity’s and the Malkin’s are repeatedly using the words “commander in chief” as if that is the primary role of the president. It’s not, and it’s a reflection of their masturbatory adoration of the military (I saw an excellent article about that subject on Salon the other day). The presidency of the United States is not a military office.And as much respect as the office deserves, I think it’s important to remember that the president serves at the pleasure of the people. He works for us and is accountable to us.(and, of course, by saying this I automatically can be accused of hating The Troops and wanting the Terrorists to win.)

  • watchdog

    I for one am sick of neoCon whining, these fools like to refer to themselves as great patriots and yet the case can easily be made that all of them have never done a single thing for their country. They are like a bunch of leeches feeding off of the rest of the country. What has Glenn Beck ever done for his country? What has fat boy (Limbaugh) ever done for his country? what has the mannitee ever done?These people are nothing but leeches, using others for their own personal gain, and all of the dittiots whofall at their feet in worship will get exactly what they ask for from these professional liars (they’re not even good liars).

  • veralynn

    “I am very angry that Leni Riefenstahl is no longer with us to shoot it.”nicely done rrebeloand Bob–every time I comment I have to log in to type wad….what’s up?

  • http://www.bobcesca.com Bob_Cesca

    >>>and Bob–every time I comment I have to log in to type wad….what’s up?I have no idea. I’ve logged in once — the same day that I switched back to TypeWad.

  • ShelleyBee

    In my household, we respect the office even if we don’t respect the man or woman holding it — be it the office of the presidency or the office of school principal.

    Uh-oh, not this again! Bob, I agree with you, but I remember some of your commenters having a shit late last year when it was suggested that our president having shoes thrown at him in a foreign country wasn’t something to be proud of. Rather, it’s embarrassing. And never in my life I thought I’d see the day when people teach their children to be afraid of the president of the United States, like he’s the Joker, or some other boogeyman, because that is the message they’re sending.

  • veralynn

    It just started doing that for me this weekend. Saturday was the first time it happened, I think.I haven’t had to log in since you changed until then. Today alone, it has happened every time I try to comment. There were times when it said I was logged in, I commented and it told me I wasn’t logged in. On the same screen it said Thank you for logging in….very odd.

  • alopecia

    I’m with veralynn. TypePad has gone bonkers recently.For the past few days, whenever I open comments on this site, I’m greeted with “Thank you for signing in, . Now you can comment.” with the (sign out) button to the right. If I click Preview or Post, it tells me I’m not signed in; signing in at TypePad causes whatever I’ve typed to disappear into the ether.I reflexively sign out when I’m done commenting (yes, I’m strange and obsessive, what’s your point?), just so you know; and if I dawdle more than five minutes or so or switch among threads more than three or four times, whether I comment or not, TypePad signs me out. I’ve seen these oddities with both Safari and Firefox under Mac OS X (10.4 and 10.6). Any propellerheads out there want to take a stab at troubleshooting? (This is more nuisance than serious problem, mind.)On topic, I make a point of avoiding name-calling. Partly I was raised right, partly I have an odd name and so the joy of name-calling is lost on me.

  • http://willpen.wordpress.com/ Willpen

    Bob, you are 100% correct about the children of this country being taught to respect the office of The President. My children have always been taught the law of cause and effect and I have drilled it into them that for every action there is a reaction, always keeping in mind that no matter how you feel about someone or something the best path to take is always the high ground.Aside from teaching their children disrespect for the office, these whacko whining wingnuts are also teaching their children the lesson of taking the lower ground, which in the end is not good for anyone concerned.

  • Lord Blankfiend

    Looks like Tom Tomorrow and you are on the same page this week. This just about sums it up…http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2009/09/08/tomo/index.html

  • J

    OT, but NYTimes says Obama needs to “jumpstart his struggling presidency.” Are these fuckers for real?

  • DP23

    Shit, my local news is announcing which schools are offering an “opt out” to parents on the speech. They said it could be read online first so parents could decide if it is appropriate for their little wingnut-in-training. A teacher said he thought it should be watched at home with the parents as if it’s a particularly graphic sex ed movie. Jebus on a scooter this is so stupid. THIS IS OUR PRESIDENT, goddamnit.